Bloody Casuals: Diary of a Football Hooligan

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It wasn't just us, it was a whole youth culture movement, sadly the youth of today are too wrapped up in computer games to ever invent a casual/acid house/rave culture of their own, I was proud to be part of it, didn't realise at the time granted that I was part of one. Jay confessed to being drawn in by the "excitement" of the violence. He said: "There is the general excitement of any kind of violence. If you get violence in Aussie rules football even a granny will go 'Wow'.

Social work IS a stressful and complex job, but it requires staff to work with integrity and honesty if we are to serve the children we strive to protect.I'm hoping some of you might be able to satiate this curiosity. To any aberdonians who were around in the early-mid 80's (or who are in the know on the subject) here are a few things that pique my curiosity:

A Top Boy' in the Aberdeen Soccer Casuals, Jay spent just 60 days behind bars but it was long enough to change his life.In the tragedy's aftermath football cleaned up its image. As police and authorities clamped down, the writing was on the wall for the terrace culture that had spawned the casuals. Even the terraces themselves went, swept away by a report into the Hillsborough disaster which recommended the introduction of all-seater stadia. If the violence is the least attractive aspect of the casual phenomenon, its influence on the music industry was altogether more benign. By the end of the 1980s, the casuals melted away from the football grounds. One important factor was the Hillsborough disaster in which 96 Liverpool fans were crushed to death during an FA Cup match. It was this weekend 2 years ago that I got a call I’ll never forget. My band and I were driving to a show on the east coast when my little sister had to break the news that mom wasn’t going to make it through the night. My guys pulled the van over and wrapped their arms around me while I cried and said my goodbyes. I’ll forever be impacted by that moment, but that moment is also what keeps me going. When I have moments of doubt. When I think my music isn’t being heard. When I want to throw in the towel…I don’t. Because I have an angel in heaven cheering me on. And all that matters to me is that I make her proud. To my family, friends, team, and fans…thanks for standing by me. #ENDALZPosted by JAY ALLEN on Saturday, February 20, 2021 He still follows the Dons, but Jay, who is divorced, has a nine-year-old son who he would discourage from having anything to do with football violence.

There was the danger element, that you could get badly hurt. But you felt you were fighting for your city, your team. By 1985 we were 1000-strong." Today's football hooligans use mobile phones and the internet to co-ordinate their violence. In the Eighties the Casuals relied on "a very active grapevine". He said: "We'd bump into rival fans in the street or train stations. It was hand-to-hand combat, but sometimes bottles were thrown."

It's a far cry from a grim prison cell in Aberdeen where, two decades ago, he decided it was time to turn his life around.